Cwass confwict (awso cwass warfare and cwass struggwe) is de powiticaw tension and economic antagonism dat exists in society conseqwent to socio-economic competition among de sociaw cwasses. As a means of effecting radicaw sociaw and powiticaw changes for de sociaw majority, cwass struggwe is a centraw tenet of de phiwosophic works of Karw Marx and Mikhaiw Bakunin.[1]

Cwass confwict can take many different forms: direct viowence, such as wars fought for resources and cheap wabor; indirect viowence, such as deads from poverty, starvation, iwwness or unsafe working conditions; coercion, such as de dreat of wosing a job or de puwwing of an important investment; or ideowogicawwy, such as wif books and articwes. Additionawwy, powiticaw forms of cwass confwict exist; wegawwy or iwwegawwy wobbying or bribing government weaders for passage of desirabwe partisan wegiswation incwuding wabor waws, tax codes, consumer waws, acts of congress or oder sanction, injunction or tariff. The confwict can be direct, as wif a wockout aimed at destroying a wabor union, or indirect, as wif an informaw swowdown in production protesting wow wages by workers or unfair wabor practices by capitaw.

In de past de term Cwass confwict was a term used mostwy by sociawists and Marxists, who define a cwass by its rewationship to de means of production—such as factories, wand and machinery. From dis point of view, de sociaw controw of production and wabor is a contest between cwasses, and de division of dese resources necessariwy invowves confwict and infwicts harm. It can invowve ongoing wow-wevew cwashes, escawate into massive confrontations, and in some cases, wead to de overaww defeat of one of de contending cwasses. However, in more contemporary times dis term is striking chords and finding new definition amongst capitawistic societies in de United States and oder Westernized countries.

One of de earwiest anawysis of dese confwicts is Friedrich Engews' The Peasant War in Germany.[4] One of de earwiest anawyses of de devewopment of cwass as de devewopment of confwicts between emergent cwasses is avaiwabwe in Peter Kropotkin's Mutuaw Aid. In dis work, Kropotkin anawyzes de disposaw of goods after deaf in pre-cwass or hunter-gaderer societies, and how inheritance produces earwy cwass divisions and confwict.

Historian Steve Fraser, audor of The Age of Acqwiescence: The Life and Deaf of American Resistance to Organized Weawf and Power, asserts dat cwass confwict is an inevitabiwity if current powiticaw and economic conditions continue, noting dat “peopwe are increasingwy fed up… deir voices are not being heard. And I dink dat can onwy go on for so wong widout dere being more and more outbreaks of what used to be cawwed cwass struggwe, cwass warfare.”[8]

The typicaw exampwe of cwass confwict described is cwass confwict widin capitawism. This cwass confwict is seen to occur primariwy between de bourgeoisie and de prowetariat, and takes de form of confwict over hours of work, vawue of wages, division of profits, cost of consumer goods, de cuwture at work, controw over parwiament or bureaucracy, and economic ineqwawity. The particuwar impwementation of government programs which may seem purewy humanitarian, such as disaster rewief, can actuawwy be a form of cwass confwict.[9] In de USA cwass confwict is often noted in wabor/management disputes. As far back as 1933 representative Edward Hamiwton of ALPA, de Airwine Piwot's Association, used de term "cwass warfare" to describe airwine management's opposition at de Nationaw Labor Board hearings in October of dat year.[10] Apart from dese day-to-day forms of cwass confwict, during periods of crisis or revowution cwass confwict takes on a viowent nature and invowves repression, assauwt, restriction of civiw wiberties, and murderous viowence such as assassinations or deaf sqwads. (Zinn, Peopwe's History)

Awdough Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) wed de United States as president from 1801–1809 and is considered one of de founding faders, he died wif immense amounts of debt. Regarding de interaction between sociaw cwasses, he wrote,

I am convinced dat dose societies (as de Indians) which wive widout government enjoy in deir generaw mass an infinitewy greater degree of happiness dan dose who wive under de European governments. Among de former, pubwic opinion is in de pwace of waw, & restrains moraws as powerfuwwy as waws ever did anywhere. Among de watter, under pretence of governing dey have divided deir nations into two cwasses, wowves & sheep. I do not exaggerate. This is a true picture of Europe. Cherish derefore de spirit of our peopwe, and keep awive deir attention, uh-hah-hah-hah. Do not be too severe upon deir errors, but recwaim dem by enwightening dem. If once dey become inattentive to de pubwic affairs, you & I, & Congress & Assembwies, judges & governors shaww aww become wowves. It seems to be de waw of our generaw nature, in spite of individuaw exceptions; and experience decwares dat man is de onwy animaw which devours his own kind, for I can appwy no miwder term to de governments of Europe, and to de generaw prey of de rich on de poor.[11]

The investor, and biwwionaire , and phiwandropistWarren Buffett, one of de 10 weawdiest persons in de worwd,[12] voiced in 2005 and once more in 2006 his view dat his cwass – de "rich cwass" – is waging cwass warfare on de rest of society. In 2005 Buffet said to CNN: "It's cwass warfare, my cwass is winning, but dey shouwdn't be."[13] In a November 2006 interview in The New York Times, Buffett stated dat "[t]here’s cwass warfare aww right, but it’s my cwass, de rich cwass, dat’s making war, and we’re winning."[14] Later Warren gave away more dan hawf of his fortune to charitabwe causes drough a program devewoped by himsewf and computer software tycoon Biww Gates.[15] In 2011 Buffett cawwed on government wegiswators to, "...stop coddwing de super rich."[16]

Weww, dere’s awways a cwass war going on, uh-hah-hah-hah. The United States, to an unusuaw extent, is a business-run society, more so dan oders. The business cwasses are very cwass-conscious—dey’re constantwy fighting a bitter cwass war to improve deir power and diminish opposition, uh-hah-hah-hah. Occasionawwy dis is recognized... The enormous benefits given to de very weawdy, de priviweges for de very weawdy here, are way beyond dose of oder comparabwe societies and are part of de ongoing cwass war. Take a wook at CEO sawaries....

Max Weber (1864–1920) agrees wif de fundamentaw ideas of Karw Marx about de economy causing cwass confwict, but cwaims dat cwass confwict can awso stem from prestige and power.[18] Weber argues dat cwasses come from de different property wocations. Different wocations can wargewy affect one's cwass by deir education and de peopwe dey associate wif.[18] He awso states dat prestige resuwts in different status groupings. This prestige is based upon de sociaw status of one's parents. Prestige is an attributed vawue and many times cannot be changed. Weber states dat power differences wed to de formation of powiticaw parties.[18] Weber disagrees wif Marx about de formation of cwasses. Whiwe Marx bewieves dat groups are simiwar due to deir economic status, Weber argues dat cwasses are wargewy formed by sociaw status.[18] Weber does not bewieve dat communities are formed by economic standing, but by simiwar sociaw prestige.[18] Weber does recognize dat dere is a rewationship between sociaw status, sociaw prestige and cwasses.[18]

Karw Marx (1818–1883) was a German born phiwosopher who wived de majority of his aduwt wife in London, Engwand. In The Communist Manifesto, Karw Marx argued dat a cwass is formed when its members achieve cwass consciousness and sowidarity.[18] This wargewy happens when de members of a cwass become aware of deir expwoitation and de confwict wif anoder cwass. A cwass wiww den reawize deir shared interests and a common identity. According to Marx, a cwass wiww den take action against dose dat are expwoiting de wower cwasses.

What Marx points out is dat members of each of de two main cwasses have interests in common, uh-hah-hah-hah. These cwass or cowwective interests are in confwict wif dose of de oder cwass as a whowe. This in turn weads to confwict between individuaw members of different cwasses.

Marxist anawysis of society identifies two main sociaw groups:

Labour (de prowetariat or workers) incwudes anyone who earns deir wivewihood by sewwing deir wabor power and being paid a wage or sawary for deir wabor time. They have wittwe choice but to work for capitaw, since dey typicawwy have no independent way to survive.

Capitaw (de bourgeoisie or capitawists) incwudes anyone who gets deir income not from wabor as much as from de surpwus vawue dey appropriate from de workers who create weawf. The income of de capitawists, derefore, is based on deir expwoitation of de workers (prowetariat).

Not aww cwass struggwe is viowent or necessariwy radicaw, as wif strikes and wockouts. Cwass antagonism may instead be expressed as wow worker morawe, minor sabotage and piwferage, and individuaw workers' abuse of petty audority and hoarding of information, uh-hah-hah-hah. It may awso be expressed on a warger scawe by support for sociawist or popuwist parties. On de empwoyers' side, de use of union busting wegaw firms and de wobbying for anti-union waws are forms of cwass struggwe.

Not aww cwass struggwe is a dreat to capitawism, or even to de audority of an individuaw capitawist. A narrow struggwe for higher wages by a smaww sector of de working-cwass, what is often cawwed "economism", hardwy dreatens de status qwo. In fact, by appwying de craft-union tactics of excwuding oder workers from skiwwed trades, an economistic struggwe may even weaken de working cwass as a whowe by dividing it. Cwass struggwe becomes more important in de historicaw process as it becomes more generaw, as industries are organized rader dan crafts, as workers' cwass consciousness rises, and as dey sewf-organize away from powiticaw parties. Marx referred to dis as de progress of de prowetariat from being a cwass "in itsewf", a position in de sociaw structure, to being one "for itsewf",an active and conscious force dat couwd change de worwd.

Marx wargewy focuses on de capitaw industriawist society as de source of sociaw stratification, which uwtimatewy resuwts in cwass confwict.[18] He states dat capitawism creates a division between cwasses which can wargewy be seen in manufacturing factories. The prowetariat, is separated from de bourgeoisie because production becomes a sociaw enterprise. Contributing to deir separation is de technowogy dat is in factories. Technowogy de-skiwws and awienates workers as dey are no wonger viewed as having a speciawized skiww.[18] Anoder effect of technowogy is a homogenous workforce dat can be easiwy repwaceabwe. Marx bewieved dat dis cwass confwict wouwd resuwt in de overdrow of de bourgeoisie and dat de private property wouwd be communawwy owned.[18] The mode of production wouwd remain, but communaw ownership wouwd ewiminate cwass confwict.[18]

Even after a revowution, de two cwasses wouwd struggwe, but eventuawwy de struggwe wouwd recede and de cwasses dissowve. As cwass boundaries broke down, de state apparatus wouwd wider away. According to Marx, de main task of any state apparatus is to uphowd de power of de ruwing cwass; but widout any cwasses dere wouwd be no need for a state. That wouwd wead to de cwasswess, statewess communist society.

However many Marxist argue dat unwike in Capitawism, de Soviet ewites didn't own de Means of production, or generated surpwus vawue for deir personaw weawf wike in capitawism, as de generated profit from de economy was eqwawwy distributed into Soviet society.[28] Even some trotskyist wike Ernest Mandew criticized de concept of a new ruwing cwass as an oxymoron. He said: "The hypodesis of de bureaucracy’s being a new ruwing cwass weads to de concwusion dat, for de first time in history, we are confronted wif a “ruwing cwass” which does not exist as a cwass before it actuawwy ruwes."[29]

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Sociaw commentators, historians and sociawist deorists had commented on cwass struggwe for some time before Marx, as weww as de connection between cwass struggwe, property, and waw: Augustin Thierry,[30]François Guizot, François-Auguste Mignet and Adowphe Thiers. The Physiocrats, David Ricardo, and after Marx, Henry George noted de inewastic suppwy of wand and argued dat dis created certain priviweges (economic rent) for wandowners. According to de historian Arnowd Toynbee, stratification awong wines of cwass appears onwy widin civiwizations, and furdermore onwy appears during de process of a civiwization's decwine whiwe not characterizing de growf phase of a civiwization, uh-hah-hah-hah.[31]

Proudhon, in What is Property? (1840) states dat "certain cwasses do not rewish investigation into de pretended titwes to property, and its fabuwous and perhaps scandawous history."[32] Whiwe Proudhon saw de sowution as de wower cwasses forming an awternative, sowidarity economy centered on cooperatives and sewf-managed workpwaces, which wouwd swowwy undermine and repwace capitawist cwass society, de anarchist Mikhaiw Bakunin, whiwe infwuenced by Proudhon, insisted dat a massive cwass struggwe by de working cwass, peasantry and poor was essentiaw to de creation of wibertarian sociawism. This wouwd reqwire a (finaw) showdown in de form of a sociaw revowution, uh-hah-hah-hah.

Fascists have often opposed cwass struggwe and instead have attempted to appeaw to de working cwass whiwe promising to preserve de existing sociaw cwasses and have proposed an awternative concept known as cwass cowwaboration.

Jobwess bwack workers in de heat of de Phiwadewphia summer, United States, 1973

Some historicaw tendencies of Ordodox Marxism reject racism, sexism, etc. as struggwes dat essentiawwy distract from cwass struggwe, de reaw confwict.[citation needed] These divisions widin de cwass prevent de purported antagonists from acting in deir common cwass interest. However, many Marxist internationawists and anti-cowoniaw revowutionaries understand sex, race and cwass to be bound up togeder.[33] There is an ongoing debate widin Marxist schowarship about dese topics.

According to Michew Foucauwt, in de 19f century de essentiawist notion of de "race" was incorporated by racists, biowogists, and eugenicists, who gave it de modern sense of "biowogicaw race" which was den integrated to "state racism". On de oder hand, Foucauwt cwaims dat when Marxists devewoped deir concept of "cwass struggwe", dey were partwy inspired by de owder, non-biowogicaw notions of de "race" and de "race struggwe". Quoting a non-existent 1882 wetter from Marx to Friedrich Engews during a wecture, Foucauwt erroneouswy cwaimed Marx wrote: You know very weww where we found our idea of cwass struggwe; we found it in de work of de French historians who tawked about de race struggwe.[34][citation needed]For Foucauwt, de deme of sociaw war provides de overriding principwe dat connects cwass and race struggwe.[35]

Moses Hess, an important deoretician and wabor zionist of de earwy sociawist movement, in his "Epiwogue" to "Rome and Jerusawem" argued dat "de race struggwe is primary, de cwass struggwe secondary... Wif de cessation of race antagonism, de cwass struggwe wiww awso come to a standstiww. The eqwawization of aww cwasses of society wiww necessariwy fowwow de emancipation of aww de races, for it wiww uwtimatewy become a scientific qwestion of sociaw economics."[36]

In modern times, emerging schoows of dought in de U.S. and oder countries howd de opposite to be true.[38] They argue dat de race struggwe is wess important, because de primary struggwe is dat of cwass since wabor of aww races face de same probwems and injustices.

^Eastwood, John H. (1995). "Chapter 3: Ye Are de Sawt of de Earf". The Wonder of Grace. Shippensburg, Pennsywvania: Companion Press. p. 18. ISBN1-56043-572-0. The system dat was supposed to treat aww men eqwawwy actuawwy created a cwass society.

^see Daniew Guérin, Cwass Struggwe in de First French Repubwic, Pwuto Press 1977